QUESTION ABOUT LIGHTING FOR A LAYOUT

[JeremyB]

Hi There

I would like to know what watt light bulb to use that would reperesent a cloudy and darker sky in my layout room? any suggestions ? hope any body can help.

Jeremy

[MAbruce]

The only suggestion I could make is to experiment with indirect lighting or a dimmer switch.

[dknelson]

If you use flurescent lighting (to keep heat down) with built in light units (rather than shop lights) they might make smokey coverings or perhaps take a clear one and lightly spray it.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Jeremy,

Well my name is Ed but I'm not sure if I am the Ed you are looking for. But I am happy to share what I know about lighting . . .

A cloudy day ? . . . Well I guess you are looking for a subdued light setting. The problem is that it is a function of three or four variables; the wattage of the bulbs, the spacing of the bulbs, the distance from the bulbs to the layout and whether the bulbs are used in direct or indirect manner. What I suggest is that you use a low wattage bulb to dissipate the heat generated at each bulb and experiment with the spacing of the bulbs. I would think something from 20 to 40 watts will give you what you want.

I have heard of some better layouts that include an integrated fast clock with an automatic dimmer switch that dims the light during the night time hours. I would love to see something like this in action.

Again, I recommend using more low wattage bulbs in any lighting application for a layout. The downside is that you have to purchase more fixtures and the accompanying wiring. The two benifits are the better dissipation of heat and it eliminates bright spots under higher wattage bulbs spaced further apart.

There is one other factor and that is the background light in the room when you are operating the layout. If the room lighting is bright, you will want brighter lights on the layout even though you want a cloudy day effect. If the background light in the room is down, your need for layout lighting to create a cloudy day effect will be less.

Good Luck - Ed

[MAbruce]

An additional thought on Florescent bulbs. They make various types of bulbs that replicate different kinds of light (Sunlight, daylight, etc). I could be wrong on this, but it stikes me that it's the type of light rather than the amount of light that would have to be considered when simulating a cloudy day. I would not know which one, but perhaps one of these types of bulbs better simulates the type of light that comes through on a cloudy day. Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable on this subject can comment?